1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a dynamic channel selection (DCS) method in an IEEE 802.11 wireless local area network (WLAN) in which a plurality of wireless channels are used by a plurality of wireless stations in communication with an access point (AP), wherein each channel is selected dynamically according to channel determination made by the access point (AP).
2. Description of the Invention
Basically, there are two variants of wireless local area networks (WLAN): infrastructure-based and ad hoc-type. In the former network, communication typically takes place only between the wireless nodes, called stations (STAi), and the access point (AP), not directly between the wireless nodes as in the latter network. Thus, the wireless nodes can exchange data via the AP. The stations and the AP, which are within the same radio coverage, are known as a basic service set (BSS).
When two adjacent basic service sets (BSSs) are located close to each other and operate at the same channel, which are referred to as overlapping BSSs, it is difficult to support the required quality-of-service (Qos) due to the possible contentions between the overlapping BSSs. It is not always possible to avoid contentions by planning channel allocations to BSSs carefully before the WLAN deployment, especially in the home/office environment where other WLAN devices are operating independently in the vicinity, e.g., in the neighboring houses or offices. Currently, IEEE 802.11 does not provide a mechanism to address this type of contention.
Accordingly, there is a need for a dynamic channel selection (DCS) scheme enabling the access point (AP) to select a channel for all stations (STAs) associated with its basic service set (BSS), without requiring any changes in the physical layer (PHY) specification of IEEE 802.11 WLAN.